A Tribute to Mothers-repost

Gallery: AvianPosted May 5, 2011105 views12 comments

It seems appropriate to honor all Mothers this weekend, and this image reveals the love and dedication that Mothers show to their offspring. This is the first time I've seen the Mother Egret feeding her young, and I was taken aback when I observed her thrusting her long bill down the throat of the young to feed them. You can almost hear the others saying, "me next, me next". This image was taken this week at High Island Texas. Comments welcomed.

7D, 500mm F/4L @ f/8.0, 1/3200, -1.67, ISO 400
PP curves adjustment in CS5, noise reduction on BG, sharpening

Comments

12 comments

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on May 5, 2011 at 6:52 PM

Not only me next, me next, but poor Mom getting poked in the head by one of the hungry chicks!! Great image. Wonderful details and such a story being told. Nicely done!

Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments

Comment posted by Scott Frye on May 5, 2011 at 7:50 PM

I like the detail in those whites and that you can clearly see all four birds -- not always easy in group shots

Registered on February 3, 2007, 387 Posts, 1136 Comments

Comment posted by Luke Ormand on May 5, 2011 at 8:27 PM

wonderful image showing off how hard it is for these adults to feed their chicks. Lighting is a little tough but not horrible

Registered on February 4, 2009, 1093 Posts, 7035 Comments

Comment posted by Harry Harris on May 5, 2011 at 8:58 PM

Dottie, I like the white birds against the dark green leaves and BG. The eyes of two of the chicks shows off the sharpness. A couple of white areas seem a little hot, but the story this tells is great.

Harry

Registered on August 2, 2010, 169 Posts, 741 Comments

Comment posted by Dottie Short on May 5, 2011 at 10:48 PM

This image was slightly underexposed so I did a curves adjustment in CS5 and brought up the whites. The spot at the base of the mother's neck started showing white and I stopped the adjustment. So I believe the whites are technically okay. Thanks to all who comment.

Registered on April 12, 2010, 61 Posts, 375 Comments

Comment posted by Grant Collier on May 6, 2011 at 1:46 AM

Great capture of the moment!

Registered on July 29, 2005, 73 Posts, 430 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on May 6, 2011 at 7:04 AM

Dottie, I really like the comp and the action. Nice sharpness too. The whites are too bright in several areas as shown in the attached threshold overlay of your image. I would bring those areas down a bit if this were mine.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by Sharon Hallowell on May 6, 2011 at 8:20 AM

A very nice image for this week! Bright spots mentioned. Fun to view! Sharon

Registered on November 1, 2003, 392 Posts, 4810 Comments

Comment posted by antino cervigni on May 6, 2011 at 1:50 PM

Excellent shot. Regards Antino

Registered on April 17, 2010, 70 Posts, 202 Comments

Comment posted by Angela McCain on May 6, 2011 at 10:07 PM

Nice one Dottie. Great time of year to go to High Island. The chicks are getting very active and You can see the faces on all three of these-a really good catch. I'm afraid I have to agree about the whites being a little hot. If you started off at -1.67, I bet the original RAW has the details there.

Registered on April 19, 2009, 367 Posts, 3589 Comments

Comment posted by Dottie Short on May 6, 2011 at 10:26 PM

I worked on the hot spots and the repost should be better. Thanks for the help in the Digital Forum post.

Registered on April 12, 2010, 61 Posts, 375 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on May 7, 2011 at 1:32 PM

Very good details & DOF, tough light but you managed it well Dottie.
A great Mother's Day post, love the group surrounded in these darker greens - wonderful moment here

Happy Mother's Day to you!

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments